Felix vs Solstice?

[arashaw]

Anyone had a chance to compare and contrast these 2 units?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by arashaw

Anyone had a chance to compare and contrast these 2 units?

Hi arashaw…

I'll keep an eye on this. I hope Doug Young and others who have had the privilege to even handle both will wade in.

The Felix is a $1000 tool which fine tunes and slices-n-dices and the user presumably knows what he/she is doing when they adjust things on it. It's a sound tech dream tool!

Whereas my lowly DTAR Solstice ($160 used) is a simple straightforward two channel blender; simple to setup and operate, simple to interface with an amp/PA simultaneously. I expect my dual source rig to sound more like a guitar with it than without. And when I reach for the dials I know what's changing.

It sure doesn't require a degree in sound and physics to operate, and I get really great sound out of it…quickly. And guitars run through it sounds great.

If I needed the precision and adjustability the Felix brings, I'd not hesitate. And after I got it operating correctly and dialed in, I'd still expect my guitar to sound like a great guitar through every source I plug it into.

It certainly has a broader application potential than the DTAR.

[arashaw]

Cool thanks. the Felix doesn't look that hard to use. I was wondering if the sonics were leagues better in the preamp vs Solstice or say how the EQs compare.

[dberkowitz]

Like anything, it's only a part of the signal path. each of the channels in the Felix are the same mic preamp's used in the Grace design M101 boutique preamps. Think of Rupert Neve and the like and that's the sound quality we are talking about. Now whether you're going to see a remarkable difference between the DTAR and the Felix will be predicated on what you have them plugged into, i.e., the rest of the signal path. I would expect there to be a much broader sound field from the signal of the Felix, with greater depth and openness. But like I said, garbage in garbage out, if you don't have a good source, and the rest of your signal chain is only average you're not going to see the best out of the Felix, or quite frankly the DTAR.

[royd]

This one has my interest as well. I too use a Dtar and have been extremely happy with it. I've tried other blenders and none sounded as good to me. The form factor of the Felix is very attractive though and would allow me to ditch my rack...

so, I'll be watching.

[Doug Young]

I don't think Felix is all that complex - in use it has about the same controls to dial in as the Solstice. You plug in, 1 or 2 channels, or a stereo in, or an XLR just like the Solstice. It has individual or blended DI outs, amp out, tuner out, and effects insert, etc, all virtually the same as the Solstice. It even has a mic-stand adaptor, just like Solstice. It has simple-to-use EQ, slightly more powerful than the Solstice, because it offers a parametric mid, and also a high pass (low end cut) filter. Set the Q on the parametric to wide, set the frequency to whatever the Solstice has, and you can just use the mid as a generic "mid" EQ, just like the Solstice.

Features Felix has that are not on the solstice include:

The floor design, with footswitches for mute and boost.

True 48 volts for the XLR in. (Solstice is 24, if I recall)

Highly configurable - if you want to configure it - For example, you can send 9 volts to any input, tip or ring. You can switch impedances, you can configure it for a dual source, or for A/B switching between sources. And much more. But you don't have to do any of these things, and you almost certainly wouldn't change these configs on the gig. You'd tailor the unit to your needs, and then never think about those options again. Many of the options are on DIP switches and jumpers inside the unit. If you don't need to configure it, just twist the EQ knobs till it sounds good and play.

The other big selling point for Felix is the sound quality. We had a thread here a while back where someone was asking "what if I could use a studio preamp live?" well, here you go. I haven't A/B'd it with the Solstice, and as David points out, you may or may not notice the difference, but I'm sure Felix would hold it's own just fine against any preamp, even a studio mic preamp.

[Spook]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

<snip> I'm sure Felix would hold it's own just fine against any preamp, even a studio mic preamp.

So.. in terms of sound quality how do you think the Felix stacks up against the Pendulum SPS-1?

[mercosound]

Couple of months ago, I purchased a Felix, with the idea of replacing my Radial PZ Pre. The guitar I'm amplifying is a Cervantes Crossover, with a K&K PU. The amp is an Acoustic Image Clarus, with a Redstone 10ER speaker cabinet. I must have compared the two preamps for at least a week, vacillating back and forth as to which one I liked better. The difference in the sound was readily apparent; ultimately, I decided that the PZ Pre was closer to the acoustic sound of the Cervantes, and that's what I'm using for gigs.

On the other hand, I really like the sound/EQ capability of the Felix for recording (I was previously using a Grace M101, which I sold to help finance the Felix). My small recording room is pretty much abysmal acoustically speaking, and the Felix is a definite improvement. As an aside, I've found that a Nuemann TLM 102 is sounding better than a KM184 for this guitar, in this space.

[dberkowitz]

Originally Posted by Spook

So.. in terms of sound quality how do you think the Felix stacks up against the Pendulum SPS-1?

I suspect the sound quality is going to be comparable or perhaps even exceed the Pendulum. The Pendulum has a lot going for it -- it is more flexible in terms of side chain inserts either directly on each channel, or as a send/return on the output, whereas the Felix has a single insert on the output -- then again I don't know how many folks really use those. It also has full three band parametric EQ for each channel which the Felix does not.

On the other hand the Felix has a number of advantages over the Pendulum. The Pendulum doesn't have a notch filter, which is really handy. Now one could dial any of the parametrics into a notch filter, but that would be at the sacrifice of one of the frequency bands. The Felix has adjustable input impedance which is really important with the variety of pickups folks use, and in particular the K&K which is finicky about that. It has the advantage of its stomp box form factor, as well as having any number of available configurations.

Here is a review from Sound on Sound which does address, toward the end of the article, the Pendulum albeit briefly.

On Test Grace Design Felix

Originally Posted by mercosound

Couple of months ago, I purchased a Felix, with the idea of replacing my Radial PZ Pre. The guitar I'm amplifying is a Cervantes Crossover, with a K&K PU. The amp is an Acoustic Image Clarus, with a Redstone 10ER speaker cabinet. I must have compared the two preamps for at least a week, vacillating back and forth as to which one I liked better. The difference in the sound was readily apparent; ultimately, I decided that the PZ Pre was closer to the acoustic sound of the Cervantes, and that's what I'm using for gigs.

I really like Radial's gear, and have every respect for it, but I can't help but think that some of the issue is that the Felix is simply more revealing than the PZ-Pre and that is why you found it less satisfying. At less than half the cost, that has to play into some of the equation. To be fair, I haven't had the two side by side for comparison, but that is my gut reaction.

[arashaw]

The parametric mid seems like an advantage for the Felix to me.